Monday, August 22, 2016

If you like to listen:The Crow and the Gull – A Listener’s StoryCrows and gulls are opportunists - grabbing a bite wherever, whenever, however they can. Listener Nick Woodiwiss of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, wrote to BirdNote about a funny scene between an American Crow and a Glaucous-winged Gull on the beach. Can you guess who won? The gull seen here is a Ring-billed Gull. It seems that crows and gulls are frequent adversaries! (BirdNote)

Pipeline pitch to draw fire at Victoria stop this week
A federal panellist collecting input on Kinder Morgan’s proposed pipeline expansion says it’s hearing widespread concern in B.C. about the project. Kim Baird is one of three members of the Trans Mountain Expansion Ministerial Panel tasked with finding perspectives that might not have been heard during the National Energy Board’s consultation process. “Very few people, if any, have stood up in favour of the project [in B.C.],” she said. The panel has hosted 44 meetings in 18 days in Alberta and B.C., she said. It makes its final stops in Victoria on Monday and Tuesday. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)

B.C. Liberals rein in greenhouse-gas emissions goals, put off carbon tax change
The B.C. Liberal government has put off the heavy lifting on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to a later date, under a new plan released today. The much-anticipated update to a 2008 plan created under then-premier Gordon Campbell recommits the province to achieving an 80 per cent reduction over 2007 levels by 2050. However, today’s 52-page plan only lays out actions estimated to achieve less than half of the needed reductions by 2050, and much less if the government’s much-hoped-for liquefied natural gas export industry materializes and significantly increases emissions. While it’s already known that B.C. will not meet its 2020 target of reducing emissions by one-third, the Christy Clark-led Liberals are not setting a new interim target and will have to remove from law the 2020 legislated target. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Smith Island tidal marsh reclamation is well underway
Within earshot of I-5, a landscape of green and yellow opens up toward Puget Sound. Birds cruise through marine-fresh air, above watery channels where chinook, coho and pink salmon migrate inland to spawn. This is the Nisqually River Delta seven years after the federal government and the Nisqually Tribe oversaw a project to breach dikes to re-flood farmland. Channels snake their way through mud and marsh, reviving an estuary that had long lain dormant. Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald)

72 hours to vacate: First Nation gives eviction notice to salmon farm
A B.C. First Nation has served a 72-hour eviction notice to a fish farm on the northern coast of the province. Hereditary chiefs from Musgamagw Dzawada'enuxw First Nation boarded a Cermaq/Mitsubishi salmon farm off the Burdwood Islands earlier this week. Their message was clear: it's time to leave. "This is a 72-hour eviction notice to all salmon farmers in the unceded territory of the Musgamagw Dzawada'enuxw," said the Kingcome band's hereditary chief Willie Moon to a pair of farm workers in a video that has since amassed over 80,000 views on Facebook. Jon Hernandez reports. (CBC)

Warm water blamed for lowest sockeye salmon run on record
Warm summer temperatures may have Lower Mainlanders feeling good, but they are proving lethal for sockeye salmon. The Pacific Salmon Commission recently revised its already low forecast for sockeye numbers from 2.3 million to 1.1 million in the Fraser River, which would be the lowest number since records have been kept. As of August 12, the DFO has suspended all sockeye fisheries in response. John Reynolds, professor of aquatic ecology and conservation at Simon Fraser University, said three main factors are contributing to this year's low numbers: a small parental generation; a "blob" of warm water in the Pacific Ocean; and higher-than-normal temperatures in the Fraser River. Matt Meuse reports. (CBC)

Agency failing to protect marine mammals from the Navy — Joel Reynolds
After more than a decade of losing court battles, the U.S. Navy still refuses to fully embrace the idea that whales and other sea creatures should be protected during Navy training exercises, says Joel Reynolds, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. But the blame cannot be placed entirely on the Navy, Joel says in a blog entry he wrote for the Huffington Post. “In fact, much of the blame lies with the government regulatory agency whose mandate it is to protect our oceans,” he writes. “It lies with the failure of the National Marine Fisheries Service to do its job.” Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Bangor submarine collides in Strait of Juan de Fuca
The ballistic-missile submarine USS Louisiana and a Navy offshore support vessel collided while conducting routine operations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Thursday, according to Submarine Force Pacific. The collision occurred at 6 p.m. There were no injuries. Damages to both vessels is being assessed. Ed Friedrich reports. (Kitsap Sun)

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Salish Sea Communications provides communications and public relations services that raise visibility and engage audiences. Drawing on over 30 years experience in private, public and not-for-profit work, Mike Sato brings to you his skills and insights in developing and carrying out your print, electronic and social media projects and products. "I've been in the communications business since 1977 starting with community weekly newspapers then working for Seattle City Light, the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Hawaiian Electric Company and, for 20 years, People For Puget Sound." Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told. WA State UBI #601395482